Americans are increasingly experiencing the direct impacts of climate change. Cities, rural and coastal areas in the South are particularly at risk of increased heat, flooding, and diseases. The good news is that massive once-in-a-generation federal investments are coming to state and local governments for climate mitigation across all sectors of the economy. These funds are meant to support both the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions that are accelerating climate change, and the implementation of adaptation measures to help Americans better cope with the effects of climate change.

Considering the vastness and complexity of climate adaptation, data has a crucial role to play. As communities come together to access federal funds, a shared, evidence-based understanding of state-specific climate and equity issues will be essential for ensuring we mitigate the most severe impacts of climate change.

Why equity? A review of resilience literature points to several characteristics that support a region’s capacity to withstand or rebound from shocks. Certainly, strong infrastructure and a diverse economy are important factors. But equally important are social cohesion, community problem solving capacity, and trust in government. Inequity undermines social cohesion – and thereby resilience capacity – by eroding trust, heightening tensions, and deepening divisions. In short, equity is critical to resilience, and inequitable communities will be less resilient and adaptable to changing environmental conditions.

Pathways to Prosperity: Building Climate Resilience provides easily accessible data and focused analysis to highlight important aspects of climate equity issues. This impartial information is extremely valuable in aligning public and private sector efforts, guiding decisions on where to invest and which initiatives to prioritize, building confidence and awareness among the public, and, over time, assessing progress made, or lack thereof. This knowledge will empower communities to actively participate in shaping their own climate futures.

Pathways to Prosperity analyzes two dozen indicators of the trajectory of direct climate impacts to date, indirect physical, mental, and financial tolls of climate change, effectiveness of government, and availability of key civic institutions.

About the Team

Allison Plyer

Chief Demographer, The Data Center of Southeast Louisiana

Dr. Plyer is also author of The New Orleans Index series, developed in collaboration with Brookings to analyze the state of the recovery post-Katrina and later to track the region’s progress toward prosperity. She is also a co-author of The New Orleans Prosperity Index which examines the extent to which economic outcomes have improved for black New Orleanians since the end of the Civil Rights era. She served as an editor for the Brookings Institution Press volume entitled Resilience and Opportunity: Lessons from the U.S. Gulf Coast after Katrina and Rita. Allison is an international expert in post–Katrina demographics and disaster recovery trends and frequently provides commentary on recovery and development to media such as NPR, the Associated Press, the New York Times, and USA Today. Allison received her Doctorate in Science from Tulane University and has an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. 

Alysha Rashid

Policy and Data Consultant

Alysha Rashid is a data and policy consultant with a focus on building a more equitable society through a social and racial lens. She supports nonprofit and government organizations across policy areas using data analytics and visualization to promote data-informed decisions for marginalized populations. Previously, Alysha’s focus was on increasing college access and success for underrepresented populations. As the Director of Program and Operations for America Achieves and Bloomberg Philanthropies’ CollegePoint initiative, she oversaw day-to-day programming and led the data operations, working closely with the research and evaluation team. She received her MPP from the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago, and her BA from Adelphi University. 

Elaine Ortiz

Lead Data Analyst, NCoC

Elaine is an expert in economic and demographic data for applied research to support informed decision-making and more resilient communities. She has 20 years experience in research design, implementation, data analysis, statistical methods, and writing on complex and technical topics for a lay audience. Elaine’s work in data dissemination is grounded in the importance of user-centered design and strategic communications for reaching targeted audiences. She is an expert in federal statistics (e.g. ACS, Census) and private sources of data (e.g. EMSI, Moody’s). Elaine has an MS in urban and regional planning from University of Iowa and a BA in economics from Hanover College.

Taylor Savell

Program Manager, CQR, NCoC

Taylor is the Program Manager for the Census Quality Reinforcement Task Force at the National Conference on Citizenship, where she focuses on 2020 Census issues such as data quality, and the use of census data for redistricting and federal funding. Prior to NCoC, Taylor worked at the Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation and co-authored the website USApportionment.org, which was the go-to resource for census watchers and journalists in the lead up to the release of the 2020 Census data for congressional apportionment. Taylor is a graduate of the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University where she received her BS in International Politics.

John Kilcoyne

Administrative Manager, NCoC and Project Manager, Pathways to Prosperity

John is the Administrative Manager at the National Conference on Citizenship and Project Manager for Pathways to Prosperity. He has worked on projects addressing issues ranging from voter engagement to combating misinformation. John holds a BA in Philosophy from the University of Melbourne.

Previous Contributors

Denice Ross

Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and Senior Fellow, NCoC

Denice is the Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. She also serves as Senior Fellow at the National Conference on Citizenship.Denice came to this work from New America, where she studied the power of networks to advance progress on big challenges. As a Presidential Innovation Fellow (2014-5), she co-founded the White House Police Data Initiative to increase transparency and accountability and worked with the Department of Energy to improve community resilience in disaster-impacted areas. Earlier, she served as Director of Enterprise Information for the City of New Orleans, establishing their open data initiative, now recognized as one of the most successful in the country. Prior to government, Denice co-directed The Data Center of Southeast Louisiana, a non-profit data intermediary. She brought a data-driven approach to numerous post-Katrina community planning initiatives and co-founded the first new childcare center after the storm.

Jeff Coates

Research Director, NCoC

Jeff Coates leads the organization’s Civic Health Index initiative and program evaluation. He previously worked at the Knight Foundation as Strategic Initiative Associate, where he managed grants totaling over $20 million, including supporting Knight’s Soul of the Community project. Prior to joining Knight, he worked at the Greater New Orleans Disaster Recovery Partnership, where he collaborated with more than 50 nonprofits to develop strategic plans for long-term recovery. Earlier, he served with the American Red Cross’ Hurricane Recovery Program in New Orleans and also co-founded the Recovery Action Learning Laboratory (RALLY) Foundation, a nonprofit that monitored and evaluated post-disaster programs. At Rally, Jeff developed assessment tools, formulated data collection methods, and directed the collection of primary data for the assessment and evaluation of programs implemented in the Gulf region by large-scale international organizations such as Mercy Corps, World Vision, Save the Children and the Department of Justice.